Kelly denies reported bid for Jurys

Brian O’Mahony, Chief Business Correspondent

"We have no recollection of making such a statement," he said, after the Irish Takeover Panel requested clarification of his intentions.

"At this point we have not determined what value we would attribute to the shares of the company."

His statement keeps the guessing game going about a counter bid for the hotel chain.

Mr Kelly, along with the three hotel groups in which he holds an interest Choice Hotels, Prem Group and Heuston Hospitality issued a statement on Thursday saying they were looking at the possibility of taking part in an offer for Jurys Doyle, but had not made any approach to Jurys Doyle or its advisers.

He said he was not a hostile bidder, and would have to be asked to get involved, which the markets interpreted as a clear invite to the Doyle and Beatty families who own 32% of the Jurys Doyle equity to bring him into the takeover battle.

In response to the Takeover Panel, the group issued a further statement referring to weekend media reports that it was preparing an offer 5% higher than the 17.50 proposed by Precinct.

The Kelly Group said that it had not been in contact with members of the media and had not made any determination what value it would put on Jurys Doyle if indeed it were to make an offer.

"We can again confirm that we have not made an approach to Jurys Doyle or its advisers with a view to making an offer for the company.

"There is also no guarantee that such an offer will be forthcoming," Mr Kelly said.

That statement was enough to knock some steam out of the Jurys Doyle share price, and it fell 15 cent to 17.50 yesterday afternoon after the announcement hit the market.

Ironically, that is the last price put on the table by Precinct.

Since the bidding started Jurys Doyle share price has risen 40%.

Last Friday the shares hit 18 driven by the prospect of Kelly and Declan Quinlan taking on Precinct.